Weft-replenishing mechanism



E. H. 'RYON. WEFT REPLENISHING MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED MAY 15. 1919.

Patented Feb. 1, 1921.

2 SHEETSSHEET l E. H. RYON.

WEFT REPLENISHING MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED MAY I5, 1919.

' 1,366,951, Patented Feb. 1, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Q/ 46 m (C) 10 42 b UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE- EPPA H. RYON, OF WALTHAM, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO CROMPTON & KNOWLES LOOM WORKS, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OLE MASSACHU- SETTS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 1, 1921.

Application filed May 15, 1919. Serial No. 297,302.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EPPA H. RYoN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Waltham, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful WVeft Replenishing Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

This'invention relates to a weft replenishing mechanism of the weft detecting type, and is particularly applicable for use with a rotary weft carrier magazine.

It has been the usual custom with this type of magazine to maintain a Weft carrier always in position for transfer. My present invention is shown combined with a form of weft detecting mechanism fully described in my prior applications Serial No; 244,637 of July 12, 1918, and Serial No. 273,671 of January 28, 1919. In this type of weft detecting mechanism the detector is mounted on the transferrer and the transferrer is actuated at every alternate beat of the lay.

It is a general object of my invention to provide a construction permitting the use of a regularly actuated transferrer in combination with a magazine of the rotary type, and it is a more specific object of my invention to provide a construction in which the weft carrier space below the transferrer is maintained normally vacant.

An important feature of my invention consists in the provision of means by which a weft carrier in a rotary magazine is advanced to transfer position, after indication of weft exhaustion by a detector mounted on the transferrer.

In the preferred construction, the magazine. is advanced by the transferrer on its upward or return stroke, and the transfer occurs on the next downward stroke or on the second heat of the lay after indication of weft exhaustion.

Another object of my invention relates to the provision of a spring arm which acts as a support for the tip of the weft carrier during transfer and at other times as a yielding sto to render the detector operative.

ther features of my invention relate to improved feeding mechanism for the magazine, to resetting devices for said mechanism, and to arrangements and combinations of parts which will be hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

A preferred form of my invention is shown 1n the drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a front elevation of my improved weft replenishing mechanism;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof with the end disk removed;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a portion of the feed lever, and

Figs. 4 to 9 are diagrammatic views illustrating different relative positions of the detector and weft carrier.

Referring to the drawings, I have shown a magazine frame 10 mounted upon a loom frame 11 and provided with a fixed stud or shaft 12 on which the weft carrier support or magazine 13 rotates. A disk 15 rotates with the magazine 13 and supports the tip of each weft carrier, the parts thus far described being of the usual construction.

A fixed guide plate or stop 16 positions a weft carrier for transfer, and a yielding stop 17 prevents premature advance of the weft carrier to transfer position. The stop 17 is mounted on a short shaft 18 to the opposite end of which an arm 19 is secured. spring 20 is connected to the arm 19 and yieldingly holds the stop 17 in the position shown in Fig. 2.

A transferrer 21 is mounted on a fixed stud 22 and is given a downward movement on every alternate beat of the lay by a link 23 pivoted to the transferrer at 24 and connected to operating devices not shown but fully described in my prior application, Serial No. 244,637.

A detector 25 is pivoted at 26 to the end of a lever 27 which in turn is pivoted at 28 to a lateral extension 29 of the transferrer 21. The end 30 of the lever 27 extends to the right into position for engagement by a spring stop or trip 31 (Fig. 2) pivoted at 32 to the end of a fixed arm 33 mounted on the fixed stud 22. A spring 34 (Fig. 1) normally holds the arm 31 in the position shown in Fig. 2, with a projection 35 thereon engaging a stop 36 on the arm 33.

The detector 25 is provided with an upward extension 37 adapted to engage a stop plate 38 (Fig. 1) secured to the transferrer 21 when the lever 27 is moved upward by its spring 27 (Fig. 1). An actuating pin or stud 39 is loosely mounted for transverse movement by the part 37 of the detector 25, upon indication of weft exhaustion.

The rotary ma azine 13 is provided with ratchet teeth 40 Fig. 2) engaged by a feed pawl 41 mounted on one arm of a feed lever 42, pivoted to swing about the axis of the fixed shaft 12. The downwardly extending arm 43 of the lever 42 carries a cam portion 44 (Fig. 3) positioned for engagement by the stud 39, when in operative position, upon the upward or return movement of the transferrer. Such engagement moves the cam portion 44 to the left as viewed in F igx. 2, advancing the magazine 13 one space. holding pawl 45 is mounted upon a fixed pivot 46 and engages the teeth 40 to prevent backward movement of the magazine. A coil spring 47 connected between a stud 48 on the feed lever 42 and a stud 49 on the holding pawl 45 acts to move the holding pawl to locking position, and also t return the feed lever to normal position. During this return movement of the feed lever a second cam portion 50 (Fig. 3) on the portion 44 of the feed lever engages the actuating stud 39 and returns the same to normal inoperative position. Relative adjustment of the feed lever and feed pawl is obtained by means of a set screw 51 (Fig. 2) mounted on an extension of the holding pawl 45 and engaging a lug 52 on the arm 43 of the feed lever.

Having described the details of construction of my improved mechanism, I will now briefly describe its method of operation.

The normal position of the parts at the beginning of a detecting stroke is shown in Fig. 4, the stud 39 being in inoperative position and the detector 25 being vertically disposed by engagement of the part 37 with the stop plate 38. The parts move downward in this relation until the end 30 of the lever 27 engages the spring arm 31 and is yieldingly supported thereby, while the pivot 28 and detector 25 are moved farther downward to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 5. As the detector now engages the bobbin, the continued downward movement of the transferrer 21 by lowering the pivot 28 of the lever 27 depresses the spring arm 31 to the full line position in Fig. 5. The parts thereafter return to their original position without changing the longitudinal position of the stud 39.

If the feeler engages a substantially exhausted weft carrier, as indicated in Fig. 6, the -feeler slides along the weft carrier instead of depressing the stop 31 and the upper end 37 of the detector forces the stud 39 to the left to operative position. Upon the next upward movement of the transferrer, the stud engages the cam portion 44 of the feed lever and advances a weft carrier to transfer .position as previously described.

In Figs. 7, 8 and 9, I have shown the operation of the detector when engaging a weft carrier about to be transferred. The tip of this weft carrier rests upon the spring arm 31, and the detector is shown in Fig. 7 as about to engage the weft carrier. In Fig. 8 the transferrer has moved downward, depressing the weft carrier and the spring arm 31, and the weft carrier is very close to its final position. At this point the usual spring jaws of the shuttle grasp the butt rings of the weft carrier and bring the weft carrier quickly to the final position indicated in Fig. 9. At the same time, the arm 31 slips off of the tip of the weft carrier and springs upward to strike the end 30 of the detector lever 27.

At this time, however, the detector directly engages the weft on the full weft carrier and is in a substantially vertical position, owing to the early engagement of the detector with the weft carrier as indicated in Fig. 7. The probability of a false indication of weft exhaustion being given by the detector when suddenly engaged by the spring arm 31 is much reduced by this direct vertical engagement of the detector with the weft carrier.

After a weft carrier is transferred, the next weft carrier is held in yielding engagement with the spring stop 17 until weft exhaustion is again indicated.

Having thus described my invention, it will be evident that changes and modifications can be made therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope thereof as set forth in the claims, and I do not wish to be otherwise limited to the details herein disclosed, but what I claim is l. A weft replenishing mechanism comprising a rotary magazine, a transferrer, means to actuate said transferrer on each alternate beat of the lay, a detector, and feeding devices for said magazine operable only beween indication of weft exhaustion and transfer of a fresh weft carrier.

2. A weft replenishing mechanism comprising a rotary magazine, a transferrer, a detector mounted on said transferrer, and means on said transferrer effective to advance said magazine only after indication of weft exhaustion by said detector.

3. A weft replenishing mechanism comprising a rotary magazine, a transferrer, means to actuate said transferrer on each alternate beat of the lay, a detector, means to advance said magazine one space after indication of weft exhaustion by said detector, and means to prevent further advance of said magazine after transfer.

4. A weft replenishing mechanism comprising a rotary magazine, a transferrer, a detector mounted thereon, a device to position a weft carrier for transfer, means to hold the most advanced weft carrier spaced from said device until indication of weft exhaustion, and means to thereafter advance said weft carrier to transfer position.

5. A weft replenishing mechanism comprising a rotary magazine, a transferrer, a detector, feeding devices controlled by said detector and effective to advance said magazine to bring a Weft carrier to transfer position after indication of weft exhaustion and before weft replenishment, and means to reset said feeding devices;

(3. A weft replenishing mechanism comprising a rotary magazine, a transferer, a detector mounted on said transferrer, a magazine feeding device, and an actuator therefor carried by said transferrer and effective during the upward stroke of said transferrer following indication of weft exhaustion, said actuator being operatively positioned by said detector.

7. A weft replenishing mechanism comprising a rotary magazine, a transferrer, a detector mounted on said transferrer, a feed lever for said magazine having a cam portion thereon, and a device on said transferrer movable by said detector into position to engage said cam portion and operate said feed lever. 1

8. A weft replenishing mechanism comprising a rotary magazine, a transferrer, a detector mounted on said transferrer, a magazine feeding device, and an actuator therefor carried by said transferrer and effective during the upward stroke of said transferrer following indication of weft exhaustion,

said actuator being operatively positioned by said detector and being reset by the return movement of said feeding device.

9. A weft replenishing mechanism comprising a rotary magazine, a transferrer, a detector mounted on said transferrer, a feed lever for said magazine having a cam portion thereon, and a device on said transferrer movable by said detector into position to engage said cam portion and operate said feed lever, said feed lever having a second cam portion effective to engage and reset said device on the return stroke of said lever.

10 A weft replenishing mechanism comprislng a rotary magazine, a transferrer, a detector mounted on said transferrer, and a yielding member mounted on a fixed support and effective to act as a yielding support for a weft carrier tip and also to control the operation of said detector.

11. A weft replenishing mechanism comprising a rotary magazine, a transferrer, a lever pivoted on said transferrer, a detector mounted on said lever, and a yielding arm engaging said lever to advance said detector to indicating position, said arm also supportingthe tip of a weft carrier during transfer.

12. A weft replenishing mechanism comprising a rotary magazine, a transferrer, a lever pivoted on said transferrer, a detector mounted on said lever, and means normally engaging said lever to render said detector operative on each downward movement of said transferrer, said means being rendered inoperative in respect to said detector during the transfer of a Weft carrier and until such transfer is substantially completed.

13. A weft replenishing mechanism comprising a rotary magazine, a transferrer, a lever pivoted on said transferrer, a detector mounted on said lever. and a yielding stop positioned for engagement by said lever as the transferrer descends, said stop being removed from normal position when a weft carrier is transferred.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto afiixed my signature.

EPPA H. RYON. 

